Peat & Diesel need your votes in the Trad Music Awards 2019

And this year Isles’ phenomenon Peat & Diesel have been nominated for the ‘Live Act of the Year’ award.

On the award’s website the band have described themselves as, ‘A three-piece band from Stornoway that were thrown together for a bit of craic, to have a few tunes on a Saturday night in the house. It wasn’t meant to be for public consumption!’

And they describe their career highlights so far: ‘Getting to meet Donnie Munro!

‘All the festivals we have had a chance to play at this year have been a highlight - we feel we have been given someone else’s place by accident! But we are doing the best we can.’

Reacting to the news of their nomination on Twitter, Peat & Diesel stated: “Well Coves & Blones, we have made a lot of mistakes this year... But not as big as the one Hands Up for Trad has just made! We have been nominated for the Best Live Act of the Year 2019!

“Vote for us at: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/scotstrad2019”.

Presented by Mary Ann Kennedy and Kim Carnie, the high impact evening of awards decided by industry experts will include exciting live music performances by Skerryvore, the current BBC Radio Scotland Young Musician of the year, Benedict Morris, Heisk, Aberdeenshire Youth Band, Kris Drever, Sian and Robyn Stapleton.

Event founder and promoter, Simon Thoumire, said: “As always, the Trad Awards amaze me.

“It shows the strength of the scene, breadth of talent and sheer scale of the industry.

“We are really excited to announce two new awards this year, each with important recognition; The Trad Video of The Year and Musician of The Year.”

Among the seventeen Awards up for grabs at the annual music Oscars is the mighty Belhaven Bursary for Innovation.

The largest cash prize in Scottish music, financially matched only by the Mercury Prize, it rewards innovative musicians with a career-changing investment of £25,000 to support the winning act to progress unique ideas and empower creation.

Previous winners were Elephant Sessions in 2017, and Talisk in 2018.

On top of this, the award is also accompanied by the brewing of a collaboration ale with the winner’s name, alongside an appearance at the legendary Belhaven Brewery Post Parade Party in New York during Tartan Week.